New handbags - esp my new soft leather hobo bag by Fossil. It's pale turquoise. C'est chic!
Sunny crisp days (e.g. approx temp 57 degrees) with poofy clouds floating by lazily. Bonus points if every flower is in some varying stage of blooming. Makes said crisp air very fragrant. Nice.
My fancy new SIGG water bottle.
(okay, it was kind of spendy for a water bottle but I really like it)
My iPhone.
My daughter's smile.
(Her nose crinkles up, her eyes turn to half moons, and it just turns me to mush every time)
My daughter's laugh.
(Well duh)
My daughter looking me in the eye and saying, "Mama?" or "Hi."
*dead*
Watching Dexy & her Daddy together.
(Could do that all day & never tire of it, not even a little)
Reading a good book.
(and not being interrupted while I do it)
Fuzzy cozy socks or slippers. I'm particularly fond of Smart Wool socks in fun funky colors.
(seek and ye shall find them at REI)
A luscious glass of red wine, good friends to chit chat with & a spectacular view to gaze upon.
-------------------------------------------------------------
That's all for today folks! Baby is awake, time to get back to Mommy Mode.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Seattle bye bye
Well, I'm back from my week long trip to Seattle.
Glad to be "home" in some ways, though I'm not looking forward to the task(s) ahead for getting my dad's house ready for rent or packing up my stuff in anticipation of moving out, etc.
Top 5 highlights of my latest trip north:
1) Dinner with my friends at Matador in West Seattle (oyster wrapped jalapeño peppers, goat cheese stuffed poblano chile's, pork carnitas enchilada entrée & four - yes FOUR - Cadillac margaritas). Was a tipsy, giggly, delicious evening out sans little kids. Yay me!
2) Seeing Rainer for the first time (not from a plane) - "The Mountain, she's out!"
3) Finding a great Artist Co-op on California Ave. and then finding two pairs of very rad, handmade earrings that I love, love, love.
4) The view from my friend Susan's West Seattle living room. Looking out to Puget Sound & the Olympics every morning, afternoon, evening was something to see. Sunsets in particular. It never looked the same twice but it was always spectacular. Their house was pretty cool too.
5) Realizing that even though I really love the Pac NW, I am no longer feeling a push to move there w/ Declan. And I'm totally okay with that.
It's time to go get Dexy from school. Will write more later.
Cheerio~
Glad to be "home" in some ways, though I'm not looking forward to the task(s) ahead for getting my dad's house ready for rent or packing up my stuff in anticipation of moving out, etc.
Top 5 highlights of my latest trip north:
1) Dinner with my friends at Matador in West Seattle (oyster wrapped jalapeño peppers, goat cheese stuffed poblano chile's, pork carnitas enchilada entrée & four - yes FOUR - Cadillac margaritas). Was a tipsy, giggly, delicious evening out sans little kids. Yay me!
2) Seeing Rainer for the first time (not from a plane) - "The Mountain, she's out!"
3) Finding a great Artist Co-op on California Ave. and then finding two pairs of very rad, handmade earrings that I love, love, love.
4) The view from my friend Susan's West Seattle living room. Looking out to Puget Sound & the Olympics every morning, afternoon, evening was something to see. Sunsets in particular. It never looked the same twice but it was always spectacular. Their house was pretty cool too.
5) Realizing that even though I really love the Pac NW, I am no longer feeling a push to move there w/ Declan. And I'm totally okay with that.
It's time to go get Dexy from school. Will write more later.
Cheerio~
Sunday, March 16, 2008
For those who are confused
Gee, you are probably saying to yourself... "But wait, I thought she was dead set on moving to Portland?"
I was. And maybe I still am.
Funny how I have such quality problems today. A year or so ago I was struggling to make the mortgage, so I sold my little house and moved with my then 9 month old into the house I grew up in with my elderly dad (who isn't the nicest dude in the world I might add).
4 months later my mother was dead after a nearly 12 year battle w/ Alzheimer's and my whole world changed again. You just don't "get over" the death of a parent, no matter how sick they've been, or how "expected" it might have been.
So here I am, a year after aforementioned move and I have plenty of money, my dad is living in assisted living, my brother wants me out of this house by the end of May, and I can't make a decision about where the hell I should go to save my life.
Irony? Oh hell yeah.
The only real difference between Portland and Austin, save the obvious weather difference (let's not forget how much I loathe the heat), is that in one city I have family and friends whom I love dearly and who love me. The question is... when push comes to shove, how THERE for me will they really be? And ultimately, shouldn't I be able to create a "family" for Dexy no matter where I live?
I do know that this moving deal ain't just about me, it's about that precious little kid o'mine. I need to make a decision that will benefit her just as much, if not more, than me. Weather notwithstanding, I need to think about schools, activities, culture, morality, politics, bad (or good) influences, crime, housing costs, food costs, job markets, distance from her dad, etc.
Hence the trip to Seattle. Besides visiting one of my childhood friends who moved up there w/ her hubby and two boys last summer, I really want to take this next week to just BREATHE and think about the fact that I have so many choices today. I don't want to have "plans" or a house hunting agenda.
I want to meditate, pray, practice yoga, sit on the balcony sipping coffee (or wine) and look out on to Puget Sound and ask G-d for some answers.
Most of all, I want to get still enough to hear those answers.
Anyway, that's where I'm at. Confused and unsure of what my next move should be (pardon the pun). I know I need to just be in this moment, I know I don't need to decide the rest of my life in this one day, but for all my belief & understanding of how this stuff works, putting it into practice is a whole other level & leap of faith.
Baby is awake. Time to go back to being Mom. Tomorrow we fly...
I was. And maybe I still am.
Funny how I have such quality problems today. A year or so ago I was struggling to make the mortgage, so I sold my little house and moved with my then 9 month old into the house I grew up in with my elderly dad (who isn't the nicest dude in the world I might add).
4 months later my mother was dead after a nearly 12 year battle w/ Alzheimer's and my whole world changed again. You just don't "get over" the death of a parent, no matter how sick they've been, or how "expected" it might have been.
So here I am, a year after aforementioned move and I have plenty of money, my dad is living in assisted living, my brother wants me out of this house by the end of May, and I can't make a decision about where the hell I should go to save my life.
Irony? Oh hell yeah.
The only real difference between Portland and Austin, save the obvious weather difference (let's not forget how much I loathe the heat), is that in one city I have family and friends whom I love dearly and who love me. The question is... when push comes to shove, how THERE for me will they really be? And ultimately, shouldn't I be able to create a "family" for Dexy no matter where I live?
I do know that this moving deal ain't just about me, it's about that precious little kid o'mine. I need to make a decision that will benefit her just as much, if not more, than me. Weather notwithstanding, I need to think about schools, activities, culture, morality, politics, bad (or good) influences, crime, housing costs, food costs, job markets, distance from her dad, etc.
Hence the trip to Seattle. Besides visiting one of my childhood friends who moved up there w/ her hubby and two boys last summer, I really want to take this next week to just BREATHE and think about the fact that I have so many choices today. I don't want to have "plans" or a house hunting agenda.
I want to meditate, pray, practice yoga, sit on the balcony sipping coffee (or wine) and look out on to Puget Sound and ask G-d for some answers.
Most of all, I want to get still enough to hear those answers.
Anyway, that's where I'm at. Confused and unsure of what my next move should be (pardon the pun). I know I need to just be in this moment, I know I don't need to decide the rest of my life in this one day, but for all my belief & understanding of how this stuff works, putting it into practice is a whole other level & leap of faith.
Baby is awake. Time to go back to being Mom. Tomorrow we fly...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
More travel
Leaving for Seattle on Monday for a week. Just vacation this time. No agenda. No set plans.
Going back to Austin in early April for a month... going to get a feel for the city by renting a place in South Austin. Shop, eat, sleep, walk, look at houses, etc. It'll be much easier to find My House if I'm there.
And jetBlue will begin flying direct from Long Beach to Austin beginning May 1st which means I can get back and forth easier, which means I can visit dad more often. Also, beginning May 21 they will fly directly between Seattle and Long Beach too. Yay jetBlue!
Shower time. Jeremy is coming to visit today thru Saturday. We're all going to the LB Aquarium tomorrow. Should be fun, haven't been there in a long while and I think Declan will enjoy all the fishies.
The end.
Going back to Austin in early April for a month... going to get a feel for the city by renting a place in South Austin. Shop, eat, sleep, walk, look at houses, etc. It'll be much easier to find My House if I'm there.
And jetBlue will begin flying direct from Long Beach to Austin beginning May 1st which means I can get back and forth easier, which means I can visit dad more often. Also, beginning May 21 they will fly directly between Seattle and Long Beach too. Yay jetBlue!
Shower time. Jeremy is coming to visit today thru Saturday. We're all going to the LB Aquarium tomorrow. Should be fun, haven't been there in a long while and I think Declan will enjoy all the fishies.
The end.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
iPhones are delicious!
I've had nothing but problems with every cell phone I've ever had.
My last one (a very spendy Nokia N75) being the worst of the worst. Dropped calls, frozen screens, frequent crashes, memory problems, forced reboots, people not able to hear me, and vice versa... you name it, I experienced it.
I also hated that phone b/c it didn't do anything I wanted it to do, even on those rare occasions when it was working. I'm one of those nerds that uses my phone as a mini-computer. A standard $40 cheap phone just ain't gonna cut it. Additionally, I don't have a land line so I need my cell phone to work and work well.
Thus, a few days before I headed out on my Austin trip at the end of February, I went to my local AT&T store to see what those mobile carrier bastards would do for me with regard to the piece of crap Nokia I've been toting around. Uh, of course the answer was nothing.
In the end, I decided to break down and buy an iPhone. My intention was to use it for 14 days to see if I liked it.
HA! There's no looking back people. This phone is amazing. A.Maz.Ing. I'm not trying to be a twitterpated fan girl over here. Yes, I have an iMac & an iPod. Yes, I think Apple makes a great product, always have. But the iPhone is something over the top, it's just phenomenal. It also happens to be a good phone, which is a nice side effect. LOL.
So, I finally have a phone that I love and that works. Yay me.
My last one (a very spendy Nokia N75) being the worst of the worst. Dropped calls, frozen screens, frequent crashes, memory problems, forced reboots, people not able to hear me, and vice versa... you name it, I experienced it.
I also hated that phone b/c it didn't do anything I wanted it to do, even on those rare occasions when it was working. I'm one of those nerds that uses my phone as a mini-computer. A standard $40 cheap phone just ain't gonna cut it. Additionally, I don't have a land line so I need my cell phone to work and work well.
Thus, a few days before I headed out on my Austin trip at the end of February, I went to my local AT&T store to see what those mobile carrier bastards would do for me with regard to the piece of crap Nokia I've been toting around. Uh, of course the answer was nothing.
In the end, I decided to break down and buy an iPhone. My intention was to use it for 14 days to see if I liked it.
HA! There's no looking back people. This phone is amazing. A.Maz.Ing. I'm not trying to be a twitterpated fan girl over here. Yes, I have an iMac & an iPod. Yes, I think Apple makes a great product, always have. But the iPhone is something over the top, it's just phenomenal. It also happens to be a good phone, which is a nice side effect. LOL.
So, I finally have a phone that I love and that works. Yay me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)